


The Price of Betrayal

by Ethereal_Wishes



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethereal_Wishes/pseuds/Ethereal_Wishes
Summary: Wish World Rumple casts a dark spell to bring Belle back from the dead, and she confronts him about leaving her in Regina's prison to starve.This was written for the October Monthly Rumbelling prompt: "You said you would be there for me, but you weren't, so how did this happen? Why weren't you there?"





	The Price of Betrayal

The Price of Betrayal

 

A/AN: This is my submission for the monthly Rumbelling: “You said you'd be there for me.”

 

Rumpelstiltskin had emptied the bag of bones onto his work bench, and then he'd begun the spell. The Underworld wasn't too keen on giving up its dead, even temporarily. The dark magic erupting through his fingertips had ravaged his skin, leaving angry welts as he commanded sinew and flesh to sew itself back to bone. The spell had been tedious and had originated from a book of forbidden magic, so he knew the price would be high, but he would pay it. It would be worth more than his weight in gold to have her with him again. The room filled with black smoke as the bones danced and shook, joining back together. He watched in awe as muscles and nerves wound together intricately, leaving him awestruck. The spell was working. Eventually skin appeared and eyes formed in their sockets – followed by a pair of delicate pink lips and a cascading waterfall of chestnut hair. 

Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers, arraying her figure in a delicate golden ballgown – identical to the one she'd worn the day she'd arrived at his estate. The figure blinked her twin azure irises, drinking him all in. 

“Rumplestiltskin?” she queried. 

The sound of her voice was phantom, and it made him shudder as he hesitantly etched towards her, tracing his talon down her delicate jaw. “Is it really you, Belle?” 

Belle pulled away, narrowing her gaze at him. “Why did you bring me back after leaving me to rot in that cell!?” she demanded, the ire evident in her voice.

“The Charmings locked me away for decades. I had no idea you'd been locked away too. When I was freed, I used a locator spell to track you, and it led me straight to Regina's castle, but all I found were your bones...” he trailed off, glancing at the floor uncomfortably. 

Belle's jaw clenched tightly as she drew her hand back. It landed against his cheek with a resounding thud. He instinctively touched it, appalled by her reaction. 

Tears leaked from her eyes, her gaze boring into him. “There wasn't a day which passed that I didn't think of you. I had this desperate belief that you'd come for me, but you never did. I was foolish to believe you'd be there for me, especially after you'd banished me.”

Her confession shattered his heart, but he didn't deserve her affections or forgiveness. He seized her wrist, and she glanced up at him, searching his gaze. 

“You're right, Belle, and I'm sorry. I was a damned fool for letting you go, and there hasn't been a day that's passed which I don't regret it. It was selfish to pull you back from the otherworld, but I had to tell you I'm sorry, and that I love you. I shouldn't have been afraid to return your affections, but as you know, I'm a coward.” He brought her hand to his lips, kissing it gingerly. 

“I forgive you, Rumple, but you have to let me go. I don't belong in this world anymore. I left it, along with its burdens long ago,” she replied, smiling brokenly at him.

“I'm so sorry,” he repeated, but she shook her head, stroking his cheek gently.

“Don't be. It's better there, and I'm not in pain anymore,” she whispered, leaning in to brush one final parting kiss against his lips. He gazed up at her in wonder, reaching for her, but she slipped through his grasp in wisps of smoke. 

The spell had already worn off, and her spirit had been sent back to its resting place. He glanced down at his skin. The pigment was still the same. Her kiss hadn't broken his curse this time, and he supposed it was because the dead can't free the living. He mulled over the price of his magic, and he realized he'd already paid it. Being forever separated from your true love was eternal damnation. 

A/AN: I'm not sure why my muse is being so angsty here lately. Ugh! There you are, and again, I apologize!


End file.
